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Outside of Todd Gurley, the Rams were notably held in check through the air in Week 6 with Cooper Kupp injured in-game and Brandin Cooks held to two catches.
With Jared Goff, Robert Woods, and Brandin Cooks high-priced options are they worth stacking in Week 7 against the 49ers?
Another offense coming off a down week is Houston with Deshaun Watson turning the ball over three times and struggling against Buffalo to the tune of 179 total yards. The Texans get the struggling Jacksonville defense in Week 7.
For a cheaper stack than the Rams, is deshaun Watson with DeAndre Hopkins or Will Fuller in play for Week 7?
Phil Alexander: Unequivocally, yes. The Rams have done anything they've wanted to on offense against every opponent they've faced this year. Sean McVay has to know the easiest way to beat the 49ers is through the air, especially after watching Aaron Rodgers and the Packers receivers flame-broil them for 425 yards on Monday Night Football. Kupp's absence will open up more opportunities for both Woods and Cooks, but if you want to go off the board with your Goff stack -- and save a bunch of salary -- take a look at tight end Gerald Everett ($2,700 on DraftKings). Everett is a plus athlete and operates in the same areas of the field where Kupp typically does most of his damage. Josh Reynolds ($3,500) is in play as well but will likely be more popular than Everett.
Watson, Hopkins, and Fuller are a trio you want at least a little exposure to in GPPs every week, but they're not a high-priority stack for Week 7. This is a get-right spot for the Jaguars, who come home to play a division rival after consecutive ugly losses on the road. Deshaun Watson is clearly operating at less than 100% and continues to take too many hits. What he does best -- extend plays and make big throws downfield -- is mitigated by the strength of Jacksonville's all-world cornerbacks. Go the other way in GPPs this week and load up on Blake Bortles stacks.
James Brimacombe: Watching Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams on Monday Night Football makes me think that you want to have a Jared Goff stack with receivers this week. After a down week for Goff as well you might think that the Rams will look to get him back on track and focus more on the passing game in this matchup.
It almost seems like if you are multi-entering GPPs you have to always have a Watson and Hopkins stack or a Watson and Fuller stack. The ownership levels should be extra low this week against the Jaguars defense that most will shy away from targeting offensive players against.
Dan Hindery: While we don’t want to be overly reliant on Vegas team totals, we shouldn’t entirely discount them either. The Texans implied team total of just 18.5 points is one of the lowest on the slate. This isn’t a spot I’m targeting. The Jacksonville defensive line could have a field day against Houston's struggling pass blockers.
The prices aren’t great on the key pieces of the Rams passing game. However, on a slate with very few standout passing matchups, Goff and his top targets are very much in play for GPPs. The Rams have a Vegas team total of 30 points and San Francisco has been much more vulnerable through the air (279 passing yards per game allowed) than on the ground (just 98 yards per game). As great as Todd Gurley has been as a runner, Jared Goff’s 9.5 yards per attempt this season is just as impressive. Stacking Goff with one of his top receivers is a strong play in GPPs.
Justin Howe: I’m always a bit cooler on Rams than the field, mainly because I rarely like their volume projections. They’re always strong GPP options, but I never like their floors. Jared Goff has topped 33 attempts just once all year, so he’s typically in dire need of major efficiency to bring home value. In cash play, I absolutely hate that. Come to me with multi-touchdown upside, sure, but not if I can only expect attempts in the low 30s.
In a nutshell: I’m a believer in targeting bad defenses, but it shouldn’t be the driving force behind the decision to roster the week’s most expensive quarterback.
That said, given this main slate, Goff looks just about as strong as any other pricey quarterback. I wish his remaining receivers came cheaper, but fairly even distribution between Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods is affordable. Stacking Goff and Todd Gurley is also expensive, but an intriguing way to corner the entire offense of a team projected to 31 points on a week riddled with byes.
Will Grant: The 49ers are home after a tough loss on Monday night. The short week, but the red-hot Rams in town does not look good for the home crowd. Vegas implied total for the game is 31 points for the Rams – which means Goff should have at least two passing touchdowns based on that logic. I think a Rams stack is a pretty decent option, although the ownership percentages on that will probably be higher than most DFS sharks want for their GPPs.
Deshaun Watson had four consecutive 300+ yard passing games going into the Buffalo contest last weekend. That included some tough passing defenses like Tennessee and Dallas. The Jaguars are struggling a bit but even in the 40 point blowout by the Cowboys, Dak Prescott had less than 200 yards passing. Houston is a different team than the Cowboys, and Lamar Miller is not Ezekiel Elliott. For the Texans to win, Watson is going to have to have a big game again. With an implied total of just 18 points though, I wouldn’t expect the same output from Watson-Hopkins as you would from Goff-Woods.
BJ VanderWoude: My opinion is the Rams are worth stacking nearly every week if healthy. You are going to have some down weeks, like last game, but the weeks where you hit, you are gaining so much on the field. Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods are nearly identical in price and while their salaries have gone up, they are still within value range given their respective ceilings. Cooper Kupp has been the real value of the bunch, but with him sitting out this week, you have to look at a Goff-Woods-Cooks triple stack as a viable option.
Deshaun Watson's price has decreased so much that he has made a Hopkins stack look almost automatic. From week's two through six, he scored at least 25+ points, and Hopkins scored at least 26 points in three of those four games. The Jaguars defense has shut down opposing offenses, but the volume offered here is really what I am most concerned about. Jaylen Ramsey will play Hopkins tough, but Hopkins is too good not to get open and make plays when he is seeing 10+ targets per game. Will Fuller has fallen off after starting the season with consecutive 100+ yard games. He sees a tough matchup as well, but he has the type of speed where there really is no cornerback who guards him straight up, so it really just comes down to whether Watson can make the big throws at the right time. Given his depressed salary, he is worth a flier because it really only takes one catch for him to minimum tournament value.